Search

Wine is something I have always found intimidating. At the heart of my fear are two things: the huge selection and the wealth of information.

However, I want to keep developing my palate and expanding both my tongue and brain. My thoughts are that I should be able to carry knowledge from Coffee and Whiskey, however I need to learn to be able to communicate across different mediums (wine being the oldest and most universal).

My hopes are that I can encourage others to break into the intimidating wine market, as I too start with the basics in a new medium. I have begun reading over the past few weeks, and will be using this project to dig into the basics.

The Idea:drink at least a bottle of wine per week, over the course of a year, totalling 52 bottles of wine (minimum).

The philosophy:wine can get very expensive. By spreading it out in this manner, it becomes a lot more approachable and attainable. The goal is to try and sample classic/ typical expressions of the major grape varieties. This sets a reference point for my brain and tongue as I begin to work into other wines, later in the year.

Near the end of 2011 I received two coffees from Fratello. These were new crops of coffee, and perhaps a hint at what the guys at Fratello will be up to in 2012. I’ve already posted a preview of the two coffees they sent us with some video. You should go and check that out if you haven’t already.

Brewed with 5.5grams of coffee, medium-fine grind, ~2.5 minute steep and 100 grams of water. What struck me about this coffee was its uniformity. It wasn’t over-bearing in any of its components and was well balanced. My notes were short and simple: cinnamon, spice, chocolate, and some cane sugar. I also noted faint berry. The acidity was juicy and the mouth-feel was nice and round.

_________________________________

Section 1: Filter/ Drip Results

_________________________________

Pour Over

Brewed with 20grams of coffee via a Clever Dripper device, with 350 grams of water.
This was a nice clean coffee. My notes were: aroma of vanilla, spice and sweetness. The coffee had a tart lemon/green apple acidity (crisp), and clove, citrus and a dry chocolate. Dry finish.

Clever pour over of Costa Rican "Miguel Rojas"

French Press

Brewed with 26grams of coffee via Frieling. I found the french press muddied some of the clean and crisp flavours possible in this coffee. The flavour profile was similar to the clever, but a little more muted.

Final Notes

The overall cup was well balanced, great acidity, with a good nose and mellow, but sweet, main body.

Aroma

9.5 /10

Body

8 /10

Sweetness

9 /10

Acidity

9 /10

Finish

8.5 /10

I’m including +1 cupping points (for its clean and crisp profile) pushing it to a 89 points.

Costa Rican "Miguel Rojas"

_________________________________

Section 2: Espresso Results

_________________________________

This review was not intended for espresso critique. However, I had some coffee left over and explored its possibilities.

My notes were few. I was able to find a profile similar to my cupping notes, with some spice, chocolate and some caramel sweetness.

In Milk

The caramel notes were amplified in milk. I made a 2oz macchiato as well as a 6oz cappuccino, and both had a creamy butterscotch flavour profile.

_________________________________

I’m not including my espresso results in this score. It was included as a piece of mind, and for fun.
I’m instead only judging strictly the cupping/ clever/ french press results. Scoring…

My main contact at Fratello is Russ Prefontaine or @FratelloCoffee2 on the twitter machine. From time to time, Russ will get in contact with to send out some coffees for feedback. It’s a pretty fantastic process and dialogue.

Once the package arrived, I opened everything up and took a photo. Inside were two coffees: